Six days after facing off in the regular-season finale, and five weeks after their first meeting of the season, the Minnesota Vikings and Green Bay Packers are at it again Saturday night. This is no yawner of a sequel, though, not when the stakes are win or winter vacation.

“Like I tell the team, it doesn’t matter who comes out of that tunnel, I don’t care what color they have on,” Packers coach Mike McCarthy said. “It’s about fundamentals, matchups, and that’s what we’re focused on. We’re playing at home, it’s going to be a great environment. ... The Vikings obviously have done a great job to get into the tournament, and we respect that, but this is a different deal.

“This is what everybody’s been fighting for, and this is what we’re excited about.”

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Minnesota (10-6) and Green Bay (11-5) split their first two meetings, with the Vikings’ victory last Sunday in Minneapolis giving them the last wild-card spot. It also dropped the Packers from the No. 2 to the No. 3 seed, and forced the NFC North champs to work a weekend they were hoping to have off.

At least neither team had to scramble to dig up film or scouting reports.

As division rivals, the Packers and Vikings already know plenty about each other. After playing twice in December, they know each other so well they could probably call each other’s plays. There won’t be any big surprises, no new wrinkles to the offense or defense that the other hasn’t already seen.

“So much familiarity with the team that we are playing because of the number of times we have played them in the last month and a half,” Vikings coach Leslie Frazier said. “So not a whole lot that needs to be discussed as far as getting motivated to play this game.”

The Vikings game plan will be simple: Give the ball to Adrian Peterson and get out of the way.

That’s the plan pretty much every week, but particularly against Green Bay. He’s rushed for 409 yards in their two games, more than some running backs manage in 16, and is averaging a whopping 7.4 yards per carry. He had the longest run of his career, 82 yards for a touchdown, in the Dec. 2 game, and a career-high 34 carries on Sunday.

Peterson has gained more yards against Green Bay (1,442 in 12 games) than any other team, and he chews up the Lambeau Field grass as easily as the Metrodome turf.

“It’s just the rivalry,” he said. “There’s more emphasis on that game because we know that’s a team that we have to beat in order to accomplish our goals we’ve set forth.”

Yeah, but the Packers had a goal last weekend, too, and that didn’t help against Peterson.

“We had the right calls, we just need to be a little smarter as far as where we fit and then a little more accountable and reliable as far as what we do,” Packers linebacker Clay Matthews said. “There were a couple of times where, perhaps playing somebody else, we could fall inside somebody else’s gap. With this team, they’ll make you pay and that’s exactly what happened.

“It was a good test and obviously we’ll come back here ready.”

Texans, Bengals meet in wild-card game again

HOUSTON — The Houston Texans were looking forward to enjoying a bye this week before beginning their work in the playoffs as the AFC’s top seed.

Instead, a terrible month in which they lost three of four games dropped the Texans to the third seed. It has them in the exact same spot as year ago, hosting the Cincinnati Bengals in a wild-card playoff game Saturday.

The Texans wasted little time this week lamenting their missed opportunities, though, instead focusing on their next task.

“Would we like to be in a different situation? Yeah, but at the same time, it’s the playoffs. It’s the start of the playoffs. Everything you’ve done up to this point, it doesn’t really matter,” Houston’s Andre Johnson said. “It only matters what you do now ... we just have to take advantage of the opportunity we have now.”

They’ll face a Cincinnati team that enters Saturday having won three in a row and seven of its last eight games. The Bengals are in the playoffs for consecutive seasons for the first time since 1981-82. Their last playoff win came Jan. 6, 1991 against the Oilers, the team the Texans replaced in Houston.

Cincinnati offensive tackle Andrew Whitworth said he isn’t worried about the more than 20-year streak of playoff futility. He wants to focus on the improvement this young team has made.

“Last year, we did what it took to get into the playoffs when a lot of people predicted us to be 0-16,” Whitworth said. “This year, we got back in to the playoffs when a lot of people didn’t think we could. We’re here. The next step is winning a playoff game. Hopefully, we can let that be a chip on our shoulder.”

Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton was sacked four times and threw three interceptions in last year’s 31-10 postseason loss to the Texans. Houston defensive end J.J. Watt returned one of those interceptions 29 yards for a touchdown that gave the Texans a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Dalton, who grew up in suburban Houston, believes he’s grown since that game and learned from the mistakes he made.

“I definitely feel like I’m a better quarterback this year,” he said. “I’ve got more control of the offense. There’s a lot more stuff that I’m doing at the line of scrimmage, and making checks and doing different things this year than I was doing last year. But that’s helped me become a better player.”

Another player who has certainly improved in Year 2 is Watt. The defensive end led the NFL with 20 1/2 sacks this season, has 107 tackles, including 39 for losses, 16 passes defended and has forced four fumbles.

Bengals coach Marvin Lewis got creative this week when asked how he planned to stop Watt.

“I wrote a letter to the commissioner to petition for 13,” Lewis joked. “I figure if we put a guy on each side of him and a guy in front of him, we’ve got a good opportunity.”

Then Lewis got serious.

“He’s been an incredible player and he’s fun to watch if you’re not preparing to play the Texans,” Lewis said. “He’s a great model for young players to look at and be like. He really is something.”